Trappers dwindle in the Big Thicket

Each year around this time, Leta Parker starts getting paperwork ready for a handful of Texans who participate in what's considered one of North America's oldest industries.

Parker, Big Thicket National Preserve program assistant, has started handing out permits to trap fur-bearing animals this year. The trappers can only run their lines from December through January, she said.

Fur trapping, though a controversial activity, is part of the reason the Big Thicket was established as one of the first preserves in the country in 1974, she said.

In the '70s, some people still relied on the land almost entirely for their living, trappers among them. In the 21st century, though, that's changed.

"In the old days, there were a lot more trappers," Parker said. "The numbers have dropped off consistently over the years."

Parker said in the late 1980s, the fur industry suffered a serious decline from which it has never fully recovered.

Most of the people she sees coming in for permits anymore have been in the business a long time, though there occasionally are younger generations, usually on the heels of a father or grandfather.

The Thicket issues 21 permits for trapping in four of the preserve's districts, but in the past two decades not all of them have been issued, Parker said.

For the 2012-2013 season, only five trappers got 10 permits, she said.

To some degree, Don Hightower said, the interest in the activity is dictated by the market for pelts.

That market has been down for some years, Hightower agreed, but it seems to be recovering as demand for fur in Russia and China rises.

Trapping isn't necessarily a lucrative business in the 21st century. It takes time and effort that many people don't have to devote to it.

Hightower said there's a misconception about trapping and the people who do it. Trappers are painted sometimes as cruel or inconsiderate of the animals they target, but that's something trappers themselves adamantly deny.

Dave Hastings, a member of the Fur Takers of America Association and editor of the group's magazine, said over the years, the methods and tools of trappers have evolved.

Traps are made to be more humane and effective, and trappers themselves exercise a lot of discretion about which animals they pursue.

Hastings said ultimately, the management of wildlife populations through hunting and trapping has become more necessary as the wild lands have been narrowed and trimmed down.

The "Disney" idea that people should take a hands-off approach to the natural world is a flawed one and impossible these days, he said.

"This idea that we should let nature take its course is not possible because (people) have manipulated that course," he said. "We all have a dramatic impact on wildlife management, as a consequence, though we've changed the dynamic."

What trappers and all sportsmen and women do now is help maintain a balance in animal populations, which in turn helps avoid severe crashes and rises in those populations.

Hastings said the interest in trapping and many outdoor activities like hunting and fishing has changed as people have gotten more and more removed from the activity and nature.

He estimates that there are roughly 250,000 pelt trappers in the U.S., though pinning those numbers down isn't possible.

Efforts are being made by some outdoor retailers and organizations to get younger generations involved in those activities. Hastings hopes the Internet will become a resource for helping encourage that interest.

The council, made up of "CEOs of the nation's largest fur retailers, manufacturers, and auction houses, as well as wildlife management and agricultural experts," reported U.S. sales around $1.27 billion for 2012.

Those numbers were a slight dip from the $1.34 billion reported by the council in 2011, according to the organization's website.

In 2005, the council reported the highest sales since the early 1990s, at $1.82 billion.

At 65, Wood County Justice of the Peace Hightower said more than the money, the appeal of trapping for many is just being outdoors.

Part of the draw for modern trappers is the same curiosity about the world around them that drove early trappers, who were among the first to push through America's vast wilderness.

"They (early trappers) found the mountain passes, they found the rivers," he said. "There's always a curiosity about what's around the next bend."

Despite the changing demographics of the activity, Hightower said, he doesn't think it will ever completely disappear.

"There's always animal-human conflict," he said. "There will always be a need as long as animals exist."